Have Faith
by Not Very Cool
Summary: Marceline wishes that Simon never put on the crown, what will this change for her? And what will Finn wish for, and what will that change as well? Really it be as happy as normal? Probably not. Pretty random one-shot. Technically includes some other characters too, like Fionna and Cake!


What is Marcie's wish?

Completely and totally implausible. But most of Adventure Time is that, anyway.

After the first half of the (most recent) season premier and most of the second half.

**Big Update of Update-ness that I don't want to ruin with an A/N chapter**: **Seeing now that "Capture the Crown" was too confusing of a plot for the majority of readers, I'm keeping both I Want and this separate now. Probably less trouble for the readers now to actually comprehend the story.**

**What does that mean? This story will be getting some more chapters eventually, and an end to the story.**

**Woot?**

* * *

The dog had done it. He had managed to stop the Lich from destroying humanity, he had managed to stop his friend from dying due to alternate universe him.

"I did it! I saved the world!" Jake jumped for joy, and hugged Finn and Marceline, who had watched the story unfold silently. She smiled at the dog for a moment as the Lich struggled to attack the trio, but was being restricted from doing so because of Prismo.

"Before we get sent back, can I have my own wish?" Marceline asked, and Finn and Jake both raised an eyebrow. They had won, what more was there to wish for?

"I don't see why not. You're already here." Prismo shrugged, and waited for her to make her wish. "It's probably going to be ironic. So I'd be care-"

"I wish that Simon never put on the crown." Marceline said, with a smile. "He doesn't deserve the torture."

"-Ful" Prismo ended, but snapped his fingers and Marceline disappears.

"Where'd she go?" Finn asks, enraged at Prismo granting a wish before Finn had a chance to her mind.

"Let's watch." Was all Prismo said, and indicated Finn to a hot tub that appears out of nowhere. Finn would have preferred to do something right now, but Jake managed to calm him down.

* * *

"Hey little girl, where's your family?" A man asks a crying girl. The man, a brunette with rather dark skin, pauses a moment to take in the fact that her skin was a strange color. Almost like Betty's skin color. Why did she have to die so young? They had plans to get married eventually, but before Simon could even pop the question, the unfortunately random thing called death took her from his grasps.

The worst part? He had been away on a trip to get an artifact for the museum. It had been a drunk driver. If there was one person that Simon could find in his heart to hate, it was the woman who had ripped the love of his life from him.

He had to move on now though. He had to find a safe area, Betty wouldn't want him moping around in the past. He needed to live his life for the both of them now.

"I... I dunno. Mommy's gone. _Dad... was never here_." She mumbles the last part, wiping the mucus from her nose with her forearm.

Simon frowned. Times had become tough now that every adults worst fear had been realized. It didn't matter if the apocalypse had been started by missiles, mass genocide, or some crazy dictator. There was nothing left resembling civilization. People had begun to revert back into animals. He had seen many unspeakable things happen.

Most of them involved children. And yet, he couldn't do anything to stop them. They had weapons that would kill him faster than he could say the first letter of 'Stop, you heathens!' Another meaningless death would ruing the children, another false hope. Why, oh why couldn't he do anything?

"That's... sad. I'm not much of a talker, but I wish you'd come with me. Wait one second." Simon holds up one finger, and rushes towards an abandoned toy store. He gets some weird doll from the broken display, and brings it to the girl.

The girl wipes her nose one last time, and looks up to the man. He isn't mean like the others. He didn't try to do things to her that were _bad_.

"T-thanks. What's your name, Mister?" The little girl questions the man.

"It's Simon." He bends down to her eye level. "And what's yours? And what's his?"

"Mine's Marceline. His is... Hambo!" She giggles. It was a silly name, a name that fit how silly the thing looked.

"That's a cool name." Simon smiles slightly. He was going to have to try to watch over this girl the best he could. God knows what will happen if he screws up. All he cared about now was keeping the girl safe.

Simon had always had a big heart.

"And that's a cool crown! Where'd you get it, Simon?" Marceline asks, and holds Hambo close to her.

"I found it... I'm something of an adventurer." He could have told her the boring truth of his past life, but what did it matter now that the world had gone to shit?

"Can I wear it?" She prods Simon with a finger. "I want to be a princess!"

Simon chuckles, he didn't see the harm in letting her believe in fairly tales for a few moments.

If he knew what would happen. He wouldn't have. Oh god, what had he done?

The crown touches Marceline's head, and she changes.

Her hair grows long. It turns white.

Simon gasps. What was happening?

Her eyebrows grow into a lightning bolt shape.

"Marceline?" The man tries to talk to the girl, but all she does is shriek in pain. Whether mental, or physical was unclear.

"Help me Simon. I.. I here voices. They're telling me to hurt the _bad_ people. They promise that they wont be able to stop me." Marceline whispers to Simon, and his heart is broken.

"I... I am sorry Marceline. I can't help you." He felt sorrow for the little girl. If he had placed the crown on his own head, would things of turned out better, or worse, than now?

He'd never know. Snow began to fall as the young girl flew high up into the air and began shooting wave upon wave of ice out around her.

Simon sees Hambo laying upon the ground, and picks up the toy. He lets tears flow.

He had always had a strong heart. No matter how weak he was, he tried to fix things to make people he cared for happy. He had known this poor unfortunate girl all of five minutes.

He had ruined her future. There was no way he could fix this.

Thus, this was a beginning of an age of Ice upon the land.

* * *

"What the flip, man!? You can't let Marceline stay crazy like that!" Finn screams at Prismo. The being, more of a genie than a god, sighs.

"She wished for it. _I_ can't change anything on my own accord." He frowns. "I'm bound by wishes. Speaking of which, due to the wish of Jake, you've got another chance at."

The Lich begins to laugh. "I may not have succeeded today, Finn. But neither did you." The laugh rises in volume until it begins to give Jake a headache.

"I wish to be able to protect her. She can't do anything she wouldn't do otherwise!" Finn says suddenly.

A poof, and he's gone as well.

"I really, really, think that I should have told him to be more specific." Prismo taps his chin, as Jake's mouth hangs open. "Ironic twists, those aren't fun."

Jake's head turns slowly to the screen.

There wasn't anything he could do. He had used his wish. So had the Lich.

There was no correcting Finn's blunder.

* * *

Suddenly, the last human appeared in the nicely renamed Hell. In front of him was the equally renamed Satan, or as damn near close to as him as possible.

The last human didn't initially know why he was here... but it dawned on him after a few moments. Why did he have to be so goddamn stupid? He could have wished that Marceline wished for a cheeseburger or something, but no. Now he was stuck here too.

"Huh? What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting someone so... Human looking... I thought they dropped out of existence due to their own evilness." Hunson said. He didn't care to look a gift horse in the mouth. Humans were so fun to torture. They broke so easily, shame that he hadn't seen one in so many years, could it be that they were becoming a more moral race? There was a possibility, maybe they all got turned into candy and lived forever now. That was probably more plausible. He took a sip of his molten hot chocolate.

"I'm here to talk about your daughter." With that, the demon spits out his chocolate, and glares at the human. How did this human know he has a daughter? "I have knowledge that right now... she's running wild up there. It's not because of being half demon either."

This intrigues Hunson, what would cause his shy, almost angelic little girl to become crazy like him? He needs to give that person or thing a medal!

"It's a crown. It's turned her into a witch. And I'm here to offer something in exchange of becoming half demon, to keep an eye on her for as long as possible. I offer you... myself. Torture me, do whatever you damn well please. Just let me be there to protect her." Finn pleads while Hunson scratches his head.

"So I can torture you, as in do things so unimaginably evil that even I haven't fought of at this second, and then make you pretty much informant to me over my daughter... Why?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Let's just say she's the only thing I have left to live... undie... for." The last human took a deep breath and stood straight up. "So is this a deal, or not?"

"Yes, yes it is! Mind telling me your name? I want to be able to tell people of your stupidity." Hunson began writing out the contract at a super human rate, leaving fire on the paper. Before the last human could respond, he had written everything down besides Finn's signature on the paper.

"It was Finn... Finn the human. I don't think that will be fitting afterwards. Seeing as I'm going to be your servant, I'll take whatever name you decide to give me after this." The blonde boy walked over to Satan himself, and takes the pen that had written most of the contract in seconds from the devil's hand.

He signs the contract.

"Obedient. Brave... or stupid, one of those two. I like that in a slave." Hunson chuckles, and begins the torture on the last human.

Or rather, what had been the last human.

* * *

He wasn't Finn anymore at least officially, he definitely wasn't human. He was 'Marshall Lee' he was half demon.

Had Hunson given him that name to help remind him everyday why he had sold away his soul? Had he given it to him to torture the being one last time?

One thing was sure though, it was no accident.

'Marshall' watched the 'Ice Queen' from afar for years. He tried to find hope in fixing the last bit of _his_ past that he held onto, but god knows that he wouldn't be able to fix her. He had tried to figure out a way to help Simon. He had nothing.

He knew he shouldn't have any hope at all, but for some reason he didn't give up.

'Marshall', no matter what happened, never gave up hope of being able to do one last thing heroic.

Even when he was bit by a vampire.

Even when he snapped said vampire's neck when he stood up from what usually meant certain death.

He had killed. He killed to 'survive' now.

What had happened to this hero?

There was little to do happy, so 'Marshall' had turned to doing things that would make even Jake's 'borrowing' mind disapprove of.

He stole the axe. Made a guitar, taught himself to play. He was what Marceline had been to Simon now, so why not try to emulate her more?

He made what some would call friends, but there was little to be happy about.

They lived, they died. He just 'lived.'

'Marshall' finally truly understood the pain Marceline must have went through. Maybe more.

Marceline had seen Simon as a father. 'Marshall' didn't know what he felt exactly towards Marceline.

He became numb to death after his 5th 'best friend' in this world died of old age. He ignored most people, merely was civil to them. There was no point in caring about these mortals.

He had to watch over that crazy chick.

* * *

Today is different for Marshall though. He still remembered Jake, Bubblegum, Simon, and all the rest, but it didn't help to think that they most likely were dead, if one were to assume that the timelines ran at the same time.

He had thunk of the other reality over these thousand years. It had been one of the focal points of his life... Well, his death. Yet why, exactly, did he give up so many people for one person?

That had been the thing on his mind the most.

He stumbled back to one of the houses that he had moved into over the years. He usually flew, but tonight had been one of the nights where he had decided to drink.

Too damn bad this wasn't physical pain. You can at least get used to physical pain, learn to block it out.

He had an eternity to live now, so it was kind of obvious he would go crazy eventually. The question was, what would push him over the edge, the past, or the future?

Candles began to burn from atop bedside tables. If he was half as observant as usual, he would have realized somebody was living here.

A cat walks into view, rubbing her eye with the hand that didn't hold a candle.

"Who are you?" They both ask. Marshall isn't in the mood to talk about himself, and how he is the vampire king. There is no point. That subject bred fear. Marshall hated being feared, he missed being thought of as a hero. He missed being loved.

Now he was a monster.

The cat was quiet though, so he grumbles and tries to get the words right in his head before talking. He didn't want to look like an ass.

"I'm Marshall Lee. I live here, you didn't see that giant M marked into the tree?" He asks, and in comes a female... a _human_. In her hands was a raggedy doll... it was that one Simon had originally given Marceline. How did this girl get it? "I still want you to tell me why _you_ are here, cat."

He had never liked cats. Jake had raised him to believe that they were evil. If this one wasn't evil, it sure was sassy.

"You are not saying we stole your house, our mom and dad found it. We two have been the only people who have lived in it besides them for decades!" The cat is really starting to get on Marshall's nerves.

He wished he could get an answer from her. Or suck her dry. Which ever one was less troublesome. The human girl began to talk now though, hopefully she was more informative.

"Calm down Cake. We can be civilized, can't we? My name's Fionna, my sister here is Cake." She extends her hand out towards him.

Marshall almost snorts, now that he thought about it, she looked almost like a chick version of old him. Was this Prismo's ironic twist? To see himself in another and live a life absolutely opposite of his old self?

She was just another person who would die. She didn't even have the slightly elongated life span of a 'almost human'. She would die in what would feel like a year to Marshall.

Being civil would at least get her to tell him where she got the doll. So he shook her hand.

"I suppose I don't need to come back to this house. Mind telling me where you got the doll? I remember seeing those in the past... pretty long ago." Marshall asked, as the cat continued to glare at him.

How he wished cats had nine lives, so he could have a few days worth of a meal.

"Might have been this one, I got this from a great-great-... well, a pretty great grandad. According to a letter from my birth mother at least. She even said that he had found it back when humans were common. Cake here thinks it's a bunch of lies though." The girl sets her candle on the kitchen table and looks at Marshall once more.

"She had no proof!" The cat argues. Oh, how she would feel stupid if she knew Marshall was an eyewitness.

"I... suppose I couldn't have it... could I?" Marshall tries to say that as least creepy as possible.

"I guess. I have others... You don't seem like the guy who would like a stuffed animal, though." She eyes him up and down.

Oh god, how he hoped she didn't try to come onto him. He had given up on relationships after one 'normal' life time. He had loved (or as close too it as he knew) for years... and then she died.

It was sudden. It was pointless. It only left pain in his heart. He wasn't Finn the Human anymore, he couldn't love, grow old, and die.

He could only watch others die.

Besides _her_.

"It reminds me of the... past. And a couple of people important to me. In another life." The vampire...demon..._thing_, says. He had memories of his past.

That made him still more human than he wished. Marceline didn't have that pain to bare.

Fionna nods after a moment, and tosses the doll to Marshall.

"Thanks." Marshall rubs his eyes as they begin to tear up, and flies out of house.

Why must he still feel emotions?

Is that what makes someone 'human' instead of some common ancestor evolved from some other common ancestor? Was it that, instead of being able to think, or to read, or to believe in anything?

It didn't matter. No matter what this girl behind him, looking out of the window at him was, he was still alone. Not a human... but still alone.

More so than ever.

* * *

As most knew, vampires burned in the sunlight. What most didn't know is that usually it took longer than a couple of seconds to burn to charcoal.

A few seconds meant excruciating pain.

That pain helped Marshall forget things, for a few moments at least. It didn't matter whether or not it could kill him, physical pain felt better than mental anguish.

He only used his legs anyway, and it usually accounted to something like a sunburn anyway. His trademark jeans covered up the permanent burns gained from going past the threshold. Pain was fine. Showing signs of weakness wasn't. That had carried over from Finn.

Pain of the physical variety helped his mind relax though. It made things bearable. He had caused so much pain, to protect one person.

He was no more a hero. He was a lunatic.

Why did he do this when Marceline didn't? Maybe she wasn't raised as a hero. Maybe she just was a stronger person than Marshall.

This quickly becoming daily tradition was bad. He knew that he would have to face Marceline soon. Everything else had happened like his old timeline (more or less). This wasn't going to be fun.

He was in his cave house, staring at the clock.

Five thirty. Six. Six thirty.

Exactly on time, 'Ice Queen' burst into the house.

Marshall held Hambo's arm tightly.

"You're good with music, right?" She asks. Oh god, why?

"Yeah..." He still has to play like he didn't know what horrible pasts he would be revealed to. He could hope that he could show Marceline the light. "Why do you ask, Marceline?"

"Shh, don't call me that wretched name." The queen says. She hated to be called that name. It made her feel sad for some strange reason. She was glad there were only a few to call her that.

"Okay." Marshall sighs. He didn't want to be difficult with what she was going to ask.

"Can you help me write a song?" She asks, and Marshall still wonders why she would want help writing a song to woo a prince. She was efficient in her plans, why would she still do some things like the goofy Ice King?

Were actions destined to happen? Was someone supposed to watch over the crown's wearer, no matter what?

Was the only thing that changed was who went crazy in a few seconds, and a few centuries?

"Stop Ice Queen! You shouldn't bug Marshall." Fionna says as she pulls out a sword and Cake takes a fighting stance.

"I'm here to record a song. One that you two wouldn't need to, or deserve to, hear." Ice Queen says, which causes Fionna to make a threatening move, but Marshall steps in between the two sides.

"She's right. You two can stay and keep an eye on her if you want. Or not." Marshall wouldn't usually invite the near copy of old-him... but she was probably going to spy on the two no matter what. She might as well stay informed.

"Fine. But if you do anything strange, you'll be tied up before you can say snowball, Ice Queen." Fionna picks up a tambourine, and Cake stands around. Well, he wouldn't usually want Cake around, but Fionna was pretty cool.

Cool... wouldn't be the best of words to use around Marshall though.

"Go ahead and star singing, Ma- Ice Queen." Marshall catches himself.

She began to sing about princes across the land.

And then Prince Gumball. Marshall could describe how much he had grown to resent that Gumball had shown feelings for Fionna.

Why hadn't Bubblegum loved Finn?

It doesn't matter.

As Ice Queen finishes singing and begins something more akin to sobbing, she begins shooting beams of ice into the ceiling. He remembered seeing the original Ice King do that too.

"Do you want us to tie her down?" Cake asks, as Ice Queen shoots more beams. Fionna was still taking in the beg that Ice Queen had finished her otherwise happy song with.

It wouldn't matter. She would die eventually, and only the Ice Queen and he, Marshall Lee, would be alive to know the secret. Secrets really didn't matter to someone who lived forever, people who could reveal them eventually all died.

Shame too, Fionna was pretty... nice.

"Nah, it can be fixed, and destroying stuff is pretty radical." Why was it only the terrible math phrases the thing that he had kept the most? Why couldn't it be the happiness of his old universe? "We probably could trying to calm her down by singing to her."

Why was he offering to do this? It wouldn't end well.

* * *

"Marceline." Marshall begins, but the Ice Queen interjects with a 'I hate that name!'.

"Marceline, I know you're trapped by that crown of ice.

I know that given a chance, you _can_ be nice.

But now that Simon is dead,

I'm the only person who can help you out of the prison inside of your head.

That said, will I be able to succeed in that endeavor,

Or will you be crazy forever?

We both are sliding down a slope.

You're losing sanity, I'm losing hope.

I sacrificed everything for you.

Me, someone who you never knew.

I just want you to know that you're not alone.

I, Marshall, Finn, whatever you want to call me...

Sit next to you on the throne...

The throne of the crazies.

Help me figure out why.

Why I gave all of it up."

'Marshall' sighs and sits down on his couch and tears begins to fill his eyes, and stream down his face.

Fionna and Cake are motionless, but Ice Queen walks over to him, and lifts Marshall off the couch.

"Help... me." She whispers in a pained voice, before it is quickly replaced with a rather seductive smile, she tries to kiss 'Marshall', but he shoves her away.

He smiled though, he knew that she was in there somewhere, and even if it took forever, he would help her.

He was going to save her.

* * *

So yeah, the most random, unlikely story I've written (and that's saying something.)

I've had this random ass idea in my head for the longest time (the season premier only allowed for a canonical genie, really), so I suppose it's time to finally post it here.

Like it or hate it, whatever, hope it was at least a good read. I still suck at song writing though.


End file.
